Illuminated compacts



May 25, 1965 E. J. RAY ETAL ILLUMINATED COMPACTS Filed Jan. 22, 1962INVENTOR. EUGENE IRICH United States Patent 3,185,831 ILLUMINATED COMPATEmma Jean Ray, 1111 S. Culver, and Eugene Erich, 3348 N. 69th St, bothof Lincoln, Nebr. Filed Jan. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 167564 1 Claim. (Cl.Flo-6.45)

This invention concerns an illuminated compact and more particularly onein which a battery and light are supported in an elevated positionWithin the base of the compact.

Numerous illuminated compacts have been proposed, but many of these arecomplicated in structure, requiring a large number of individual piecesand complicated assembly. This multiplicity of parts in turn results ina costly product which, because of its complexity, is short lived andsubject to undesirable malfunctions.

It is a primary object of our invention to provide a device in which thecompact may be case in two major portions, one of which supports abattery in elevated position to reduce corrosive action.

Another object of our invention is to provide a device in which thebattery may be readily removed and replaced.

Another object of our invention is to provide a device in which abattery cover incorporates the light bulb and positions it relative tothe battery.

Another object of our invention is to provide a device in which thecontact member is a single fixed spring.

It is yet another object of our invention toprovide a device in whichthe component parts may be assembled to a single pivotal pin.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be moreapparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of theaccompanying drawings and following specifications, wherein is discloseda single exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the understanding,however, that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scopeof the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In said drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a compact constructed according toour invention.

FIGURE -2 is a cut-away view in perspective of the portion of the devicein which the battery is positioned, and

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view of the battery container portion ofthe compact.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURE 1; acompact constructed according to our 0 invention contains three primarysections, the base ll, the lid 12 and the battery cover 13. The compactis preferably manufactured of some material which can be molded, themost desirable material being one of the commonly used plastics. Thebase section 11 is rectangular in shape and formed as an open box withside walls such as 14 and 15 with two upwardly extending cars 16 and 17.Internally of the base at the end in which the two cars are formed is aridge portion 18 which extends the width of the base. This may be bestseen in FIGURE 2. Also formed integrally with the base section are twospacer ears l9 and 20. These are inwardly curved or recessed at 21 and22 to hold a battery, and also notched to hold the electrical contactspring 23. These spacers serve to position the battery and the contactspring, and also hold it up up away from the inner surface of the base.

The base has a rearwardly extending tab 24 which has a small hole 25extending through its length. This hole is provided to hold a pin 26.Also mounted on this pin 26 is a battery cover section 13. This is alsomolded Patented May 25, 1365 ice of plastic and is angular in crosssection. One edge is provided with cars, such as 27 and 28, which willreceive the pin 2s. The other edge has a lip 29 which engages thepartition 18 in the base. Also in this cover portion is an opening 39which receives the light bulb 31. The button-like base contact of thebulb is in contact with the contact strip 23 and the threaded metalshoulder of the bulb contacts the terminal 31a of the battery 32.

Also in the base member 11 is mounted a switch 33 which extends throughthe wall of the angular section 16 and abuts against the upturned end 34of the contact strip 23. By pushing this button 33 inwardly, the contactstrip is brought into engagement with the base of the battery,completing an electrical circuit which extends from the battery terminalthrough the bulb base, through the contact strip, and back to theopposite end of the battery.

To complete the assembly, the lid portion of the compact is a singlemolded piece, having downwardly extending ears, one of which is shown at35 in FIGURE 1, to engage the hinge pin 26. This cover section isangular to mate with the upwardly extending ears l6 and 17 in the baseand has a snap catch 36 on the forward edge to engage the lug 37 on thebase member.

The cover portion also carries a mirror 33 which is illuminated by thelight bulb 31. The light bulb 31 is of the type which has a small lensportion 39 at its outer extremity, and the bulb is mounted at a slightangle in the base member so that this lens will focus on the face of theperson using the compact, which light will be reflected in the mirror.The base section contains a tray 40 which is provided to hold facepowder and a space for a powder puff 41.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that we have provided adevice in which relatively few parts may be assembled into a uni-t, eachmajor part having cars which can be joined through the medium of acommon hinge pin to the other portions. There is nothing loose which canfall out of the compact and become lost. The battery is readily removedand replaced. The electrical circuit is simple and consists of a singleterminal strip.

Although We have described a specific embodiment of our invention, it isapparent that modifications thereof may be made by those skilled in theart. Such modifica tions may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of our invention as set forth in the appended claim.

We claim as our invention:

In a compact, an open box-like base section rectangular in shape andhaving upwardly extending ears on the side walls thereof and having atransverse ridge portion internally of the base at the end in which thesaid two cars are formed, and having also two recessed spacer earsformed between the rear wall of the box and the ridge portion and havingtransverse notches therein, a battery received in the recessed ears anda contact strip extending beneath the battery and located in the notchesand having an upturned end to selectively engage the base of thebattery, a battery cover angular in cross section, the frontal portionof the angular cover having an opening therein, an illuminating lampreceived therein, the end of the contact strip opposite the upturned endpositioned to make contact with the button base contact of the lamp andthe threaded metal shoulder of the lamp contacting the terminal of thebattery, a lever at one end of the base member extending through thewall of the base member and abutting against the upturned end of thecontact strip whereby pressure on the lever moves the upturned endtransversely of the case to close the circuit through the battery andthe lamp, a lid hinged to the rear of the box, the lid being prow videdwith a mirror on the inside and the rectangular 2,487,168 11/49 Mordkin20645.11 base having a tray to hold face powder and powder puff.2,677,044 4/54 Lawler 240--'-6.45

References Citefi by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS5 433,816 8/35 Great Britain.

1,496,575 6/24 Hanna 2406.45 2 392 51 1 4 Aronek 240 5 NORTON ANSHER, yExamine"- 2,453,621 11/48 Chinn 240-645 LAWRENCE CHARLES, Examiner.

